I laughed and smiled and sharpened my kitchen knives reading the entries that came in. They revealed, as usual, a deep vein of inquiry around what it means to be Australian and how to make that clear to the world.

Australian mainlanders and foreign outlanders alike need to know there is a place down here that, despite being wild and dangerous, has four seasons, charmingly spread across 12 months.

The new Dundee should be a feature-length version of “Rosehaven.” The Luke McGregor character doesn’t carry a knife but he can still charm the leg off an iron pot.

Even the NYT called “Rosehaven” charming — not a word usually applied to anything Oz. And if you feel the need to put a Hemsworth in it, Chris would be an excellent ghost of Errol Flynn, roaming the streets of his Tasmanian childhood.

— Sheila Allison

An Aussie Battler

Wind the clock forward. He or she can be a small business person, who does an enjoyable and authentic job, up against a multinational corporation.

A David and Goliath story, or as Australians would think of it; a little battler does good story.

Something heartwarming. Characters you can relate to and really get to like, but not quite sophisticated. Street smart, but honest street smart. Hard working, believes he or she can mix it up with the big players. Has a lot of front, but not brash.

Maybe the character is a bit like a Federation house – all grand frontage that leads to a lean-to at the back. Doesn’t want to rule the world, but wants a fair share.

Of course, our politicians can get involved, but based upon their antics over the last couple of years they would be uncouth. I’d even give a cameo to the locked filing cabinet. I’d call it the Cabinet’s cabinet after Major Major of Catch 22.

Would the battler win? Of course. Not in the courts, but with daring do.

For the cast, it is hard to go past Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe.

— Mark Thomas

‘Croc Dundee,’ Feminists First

It should be a girl.

Margot Robbie has inherited her dad’s bar in Alice Springs. She operates with a no-nonsense style, making it a draw for tourists and locals alike.

One night she has to remove an unruly customer, which a patron videos and posts to the Internet.

She becomes a viral sensation, and soon a crew from the New York Times comes calling.

When they get to the bar, she is the real thing, and they want her to come to the States to appear in a reality TV show, “Croc Dundee, the Woman”

She reluctantly gives it a try, and is a “fish out of water” in Brooklyn, where she can’t understand the appeal of $5 cups of coffee and over-priced meals. After she encounters a bigot berating an Aboriginal (somehow one of them made it to NYC), she gives him a thrashing which is recorded by a “man on the street” with an iPhone, but this time she grabs it from the man and smashes it, saying “one viral video in a lifetime is enough.”

She packs it up and heads back to Alice Springs, where her portrait is painted for inclusion in the museum at Canberra, and she meets up with an male mate from grade school. (second grade).

Their children’s romance is rekindled and they operate the bar which is now a tourist mecca, featuring the “New York Strip Steak, cooked Brooklyn style.

They have a YouTube channel and post videos of famous people who drop by.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday.Credit
Pool photo by Ronen Zvulun

The Israeli police recommended on Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, in a scandal that has ties to Australia’s own James Packer.

According to the police, expensive cigars, jewelry and pink champagne flowed into the prime minister’s official Jerusalem residence in quantities sufficient to stock a small cocktail lounge — and Mr. Packer was one of the patrons.

...And We Recommend

One of last year’s winners at the Head On Photo Festival, in the landscape category, capturing a scene in New South Wales.Credit
Paul Harmon

Break out your cameras, folks, and enter the Head On Photo Awards — Australia’s largest photo competition. It’s your chance to win $60,000 in cash, prizes and space for exhibition in Sydney at this year’s festival in May.

There are special categories for potraits, landscapes (like the winner above), mobile and for students too — and the great thing about it is that names and CVs are stripped off the entries. It’s just the images that will make or break you so forget the networking, and start shooting!

One of The New York Times’s most talented photo editors, Mikko Takkunen, will be among the judges.

Entries close Feb. 25.

Damien Cave is the new Australia bureau chief for The New York Times. He’s covered more than a dozen countries for The Times, including Mexico, Cuba, Iraq and Lebanon. Follow him on Twitter: @damiencave.